1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an endoscope. More particularly, the present invention relates to an endoscope which can obtain high-quality images without discomfort.
2. Description of the Related Art
An endoscope is used to examine the internal organs and is an indispensable instrument in modern medical environments since it allows the inside of the body to be observed in a minimally invasive or noninvasive manner Such an endoscope is well known in the art and allows the inside of the body to be observed from outside of the body using a light source, an optical fiber, and a camera.
In use of an endoscope, a bundle of optical fibers is inserted into the body. At this time, a patient experiences discomfort such as nausea and foreign body sensations. In order to reduce this discomfort, recently, an endoscope is used when a patient is asleep. However, sleep endoscopy has shortcomings of the burden of anesthesia and side effects resulting therefrom.
Therefore, there is a need for a method of reducing patient discomfort in use of an endoscope by reducing the thickness of a bundle of optical fibers. However, since the amount of transmitted information is reduced with decreasing number of optical fibers, it is impossible to recover an image having sufficient resolution.